Perry Zanki’s story is like his hair: long, tangled, and compelling. Perry grew up in the province of Ontario working on a farm. He has spent the past 30 years sailing. 

Perry wrapped up a 23-year teaching, coaching, and mentoring career at Episcopal Academy, and now works at Friends Select. He teaches Astronomy, Anatomy and Physiology, and Biology. 

This is not Perry’s first time teaching at Friends Select: Perry was a summer session teacher in 1998. 

Perry’s teaching has always been complementary to his love of the earth. He designed a program called the “Wissahickon Experience,” taking students to the Wissahickon, where he now lives.

 Perry told us that “viewing the world pass by on the waterline, you gain a whole different perspective.” 

He hopes to bring this perspective – one of appreciation for the world – to Friends Select. Perry will “channel [his] energy” by  “presenting issues and experiences that others find useful and they can apply in there lives.” In other words, Perry hopes to teach lessons that students will take with them out of the classroom.

“It’s not when you have a set time in your schedule, it’s all of the other outside of classroom opportunities to share and help,” says Perry. 

How does Perry know this is the right approach to teaching? That’s how he learned. After five years of secondary education, Perry took a year off to help his father with that year’s harvest. 

Perry became a teacher not because he loved the classroom but instead because he loves sharing experiences with his students. Perry wants students to learn respect not just for him, but “for your classmates, and for yourself.” 

Some people work only for the associated income. That’s not Perry.  Whether it’s creating a bike polo team or taking students around the Wissahickon, Perry tries to transfer his passion to his students, as he practices one simple edict: “we’re all in this together.”